Article dispensing machine with adjustable magazine



Jan. 17, 1967 J. M. SKOREY ETAL 3,298,570

ARTICLE DISPENSING MACHINE WITH ADJUSTABLE MAGAZINE Filed Jan. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOHN MATTHEW SKOREY ":5; 2 LOREN E. WARNER wg yhhwjfiw A TTORNEYS Jan.- 17, 1967 ARTICLE DISPENSING MACHINE WITH ADJUSTABLE MAGAZINE Filed Jan. 22, 1965 J- M. SKOREY ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet z,

INVENTOR. JOHN MATTHEW SKOREY E. WARNER WM Mia LOREN ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,298,570 Patented Jan. 17, 1967 3,298,570 ARTICLE DISPENSING MACHINE WITH ADJUSTABLE MAGAZINE John M. Skorey, 1111 E. Bayaud, Denver, Colo. 80223, grtzlzIzaoren E. Warner, 5454 Vale Drive, Denver, Colo.

Filed Jan. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 427,443 4 Claims. (Cl. 221242) This invention relates to an article dispensing machine and more particularly to a compact article dispensing machine which may be easily, quickly and inexpensively modified to dispense at different times a number of generally fiat objects having a different width and thickness from those objects which previously were or might again be so dispensed and which is less susceptible to pilferage.

Heretofore, commercially available dispensing machines have either been designed to dispense an article or product of a specific size and shape and was not adapted to dispense any other type of article or product, or was adaptable to dispense articles or products which varied in thickness only but otherwise were the same in size and shape. Under certain circumstances, such as occurs in the dispensing of school supplies within schools, it is not only desirable but mandatory that a dispensing machine be modifiable to dispense different products at different times if the demand for such different products is to be successfully met. For instance, in most school systems space is at a premium and therefore it is not possible to install a battery or plurality of dispensing machines to handle all the necessary articles or products. Consequently, where space is at a premium it is impossible to dispense all products and the demand for some of the products cannot be met. Further, dispensing flat objects utilizing a spiral ring has posed special problems since the overall thickness or diameter of the spiral ring itself is normally considerably greater than the overall thickness of the remaining portion of the article. Also, where flat articles are packaged with a flexible material, it was noted that pilferage of the dispensing apparatus occurred through the use of a sharp pointed instrument, such as a pencil, inserted at an oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the article such as to puncture the flexible cover at the corner thereof and, while holding the pencil at said angle, pulling the article outwardly through the article delivery opening. In addition to the foregoing, prior art dispensing devices have been generally bulky as compared to the quantity of articles that could be accommodated therein. It has been discovered, however, that the disadvantages of the prior art dispensing devices can be eliminated through the use of a dispensing device incorporating therein a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means in conjunction with a vertically disposed, removable article guide means having a vertically disposed recess formed therein and an inclined article supporting surface.

Additionally, it has been discovered that the problems formerly encountered in dispensing flat objects utilizing the spiral ring can be eliminated through the use of a recessed portion disposed intermediate of the article delivery opening and the article support means formed within the dispensing device. Also, it has been discovered that the pilferage problem may be eliminated by utilizing a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means which includes a vertically disposed portion but of substantially reduced height extending outwardly through the article delivery opening and coplanar with the vertically disposed article guide surface of a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means. Consequently, a dispensing device constructed in this manner can be easily and quickly modified to accommodate articles of varying thicknesses, widths and lengths, can be made very compact in construction, can easily accommodate fiat articles incorporating a spiral ring, and is substantially non-susceptible to pilferage through the use of a sharp pointed instrument inserted at the corner of the package at an angle to the direction of travel of the article exiting through the article delivery opening.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of this invention is to provide an improved, compact dispensing device which may be easily, quickly and inexpensively modified to handle at different times articles of different sizes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing device which may be easily and inexpensively modified to handle at different times articles of different thicknesses, widths and lengths.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved, compact dispensing apparatus incorporating a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means in conjunction with a frictionally mounted, vertically disposed removable article guide means having a vertically disposed recess formed therein and an inclined article supporting means.

Another object of this invention is'to provide an improved, coin-operated dispensing apparatus which is compact in structure and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing device which can be easily and conveniently used to dispense flat articles incorporating a spiral ring.

Another object ofthis invention is to provide a dispensing device which is substantially non-susceptible to pilferage through the use of'a sharp pointed instrument inserted in the article'covering at the corner thereof and at an oblique angle to the direction of travel of the article exiting through the article delivery opening.

Further objects and features of novelty of the invention will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following descrip tion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view in cross section of the dispensing apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 but with the tray removed;

FIGURE 4 is a partial elevational view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the article engaging means; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the member used to urge the articles downwardly within the dispensing apparatus.

Now referring to the drawings, and particularly FIG- URES 1 and 2, a dispensing device 10 is shown comprising a cabinet 12, an externally mounted guide means 14, an inner, inclined support means 16, an article engaging means 18 mounted for translatory movement along at least a portion of said support means 16, means 20 for actuating said article engaging means 18, -a pair of vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means 22, a removable, frictionally mounted, vertically disposed article guide means 24 having a vertically disposed recess 24a formed therein, means 26 for urging the articles downwardly within the dispensing device, and a coinreceiving tray or receptacle 28 disposed within said cabinet 12 beneath a portion of said means 20 for actuating said article means 18.

The cabinet 12 includes a front wall 30 incorporating a horizontally disposed opening or slot 300 formed in the lower portion thereof and a generally circular opening 30b also formed in the lower portion thereof beneath said opening 30a. Cabinet 12 also includes a removable portion 32 formed in one of the sidewalls 34. The removable portion 32 may be secured to cabinet 12 by means of a lock 36. It will be understood, however, that the portion 32 may be mounted on a hinge as well. Said removable portion 32 has a vertically disposed window 38 formed therein for the purpose of visibly ascertaining the number of articles disposed within said dispensing device 10. The Window 38 preferably has a piece of transparent material such as glass disposed therein.

The externally mounted article guide means 14 comprises a horizontally disposed channel member 40 and a horizontally disposed angular V-shaped member 42. Member 40 is mounted above the opening 30a and member 42 is mounted below the opening 30a. Member 42 is preferably mounted for vertical adjustment thereof, thereby providing an adjustable throat or opening through which the article must pass. The channel-shaped member 40 and the V-shaped member 42 are mounted, as shown in'FIGURES 1 and 2, to provide two opposed, slightly converging surface portions 40a and 42a. Such an arrangement discourages attempts to insert objects through opening 30a for the purpose of pilfering articles from the dispensing device 10.

Mounted within the cabinet 12 is an inclined support means 16 comprising a rectangular shaped plate 44 with depending sidewalls 44a, 44b, 44c and 44d, a generally rectangular opening 440 formed therethrough and a pair of elongated openings 44f formed therethrough and parallel to each other, one of each said openings 44 being formed on each side of said opening 442, a pair of openings 44g formed intermediate each elongated opening 44) and the adjacent depending sidewall of said plate 44, said opening 44g also being formed adjacent to said depending sidewall 44c, and a pair of rectangular shaped openings 44h formed adjacent, depending sidewall 44c. Depending sidewall 44a comprises a pair of surface portions 44i and 44 interconnected by a surface portion 44k. The portion 30c of frontwall 30 encompassing the bottom portion of opening 30a cooperates with surface portions 44i and 44k of depending sidewall 44a to form a recess 46 disposed intermediate opening 30a and the lower end of inclined support means 16. A pair of vertically disposed, elongated openings (not shown) is formed within surface portion 44 of depending sidewall 44a to permit vertical adjustment of depending sidewall 44a with respect to the article delivery opening 300.

A rectangular shaped member 48 having a portion 48a offset from the remaining part of said member 48 is spotwe-lded or otherwise suitably attached to the lower portion of the rear wall 50 of cabinet 12. The offset portion 48a of member 48 in this arrangement cooperates with the opposed portion of the rear wall 50 to form a pocket or recess for the reception of the depending sidewall 440 of plate 44 thereby providing a means for securely but removably mounting the rearward or upper portion of the inclined support means with respect to the rear wall 50 of cabinet 12.

The article engaging means 18 comprises a rectangular shaped member 52 having depending sidewalls 52a, 52b and 520, a rectangular-shaped plate 54 mounted on the underside of member 52, said plate 54 having a plurality of threaded openings 54a: formed therein, an elongated member 56 adapted for mounting within any one of said openings 54a, a rectangular-shaped member 58 having an inturned flange member 58a and adapted to be mounted to depending sidewall 52b for vertical adjustment relative thereto. Rectangular shaped member 58 has a rotatably mounted member 60 suitably mounted by bracket means 61 to the backside of member 58. Member 60 is cylindrical in shape and has a portion thereof extending above the inturned flange 58a of member 58. The vertical separation between the inturned flange 53a and the upper surface of rectangular member 52 may be easily and quickly adjusted to coincide suitably with the thickness of the flatshaped member to be disposed within the dispensing device 16, such that upon actuation of the article engaging means 18 only one article at a time will be moved toward the article delivery opening 30a. Depending sidewall 52a has a recess 62, see FIGURE 4, formed on each side thereof adjacent the intersection of sidewall 5211. with the body portion of rectangular member 52. The length of the portion of depending sidewall 52a separating the inner portion of recesses 62 is slightly less than the Width of the rectangular opening 44c formed in plate member 44. Depending sidewalls 520 are adapted for insertion within elongated slots 44f of plate number 44. Thus, when article engaging means 18 is mounted for translatory movement along inclined support means 16 the combination of each depending sidewall 520 with its respective elongated slot 44 and recesses 62 with the adjacent portions of plate member 44 serve to limit the path of movement of article engaging means 18 to an essentially translatory movement along inclined support means 16. Slots 4411 of plate member 44 receives a portion of bracket means 61 when the article engaging means is disposed as closely to rear wall 50 as is possible.

The means 20 for actuating the article engaging means 18 may comprise any one of the several conventionally available coin operated actuating devices. In essence, said means 20 includes a hook member 64 mounted for pivotal movement about a shaft 66, said shaft 66 being securely mounted to a spring biased member 68 whose movement is limited to one of translation only. Said means 20 also includes a stationary cam surface 70. Hook member 64 has a cam surface follow portion 64a which remains in contact with the cam surface 70 at all times. When the spring biased member 68 is fully extended within or into cabinet 12, the cam surface follow portion 64a contacts, in turn, portion 70a of the cam surface 70 thereby causing hook member 64 to pivot in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 3. Such pivotal movement of hook member 64 results in hook member 64 engaging the elongate-d member 56. Movement of spring biased member 68 in the reverse direction, i.e., outwardly of the cabinet 12, results in article engaging means 18 being pulled downwardly along inclined support means 16 to a forward position at which time the cam follow surface portion 64a of hook member 64 contacts portion 70b of cam surface 70 thereby causing hook member 64 to rotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed from FIGURE 3, whereby hook member 64 becomes dis engaged from elongated member 56. Article engaging means 18 will remain in this position until spring biased member 68 is again urged inwardly into cabinet 12 thereby resulting in an abutting contact between portion 68a of member 68 and elongated member 56.

As previously indicated, the dispensing device 10 also includes a removable, frictionally mounted vertically disposed article guide means 24 positioned transversely of the support means 16 at the rearward or upper portion thereof. Said article guide means 24 has a vertically disposed recess portion 24a, see FIGURES 3 and 4, formed in the central portion thereof and has flanges 24b formed on each side thereof. Said flanges 24b extend beyond the lower edge 240 of said member 24 a suflicient distance to permit member 60 of the article engaging means 18 to pass under the lower edge of 240 of said member 24 when the lower portion of the flanges 24b are resting in abutting contact against the upper surface of plate 44. With this arrangement, the inturned flange 58a of member 58 is enabled to pass beneath the bottom surface of the recess 24a and to the rearward of member 24 thereby enabling another article to be guided down upon the upper surface of member 52 of the article engaging member 18. Each flange 24b frictionally engages an upright post 76 which has the lower end thereof positioned Within one of the openings 44g formed in plate 44 and the upper end thereof positioned within a slot formed within member 78 which is securely mounted to the underside of top wall 80 of cabinet 12. The upper portion 76a of the upright post 76 has a boss portion formed thereabout, thereby vertically positioning said post 76 with respect to the slot formed in member 78. It will be understood that the posts 76 may be positioned within the forward set of openings 44g to accommodate articles of reduced length. As previously indicated, the dispensing device also has a pair of vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means 22 extending upwardly from the lower portion of the inclined support means 16. Said article guide means 22 is preferably a right-angled member having surface portions 22a and 22b. Surface portion 22a of one of said members 22 is opposed to surface portion 22a of the other said member 22 and is disposed generally parallel thereto. The lower part 82 of each surface portion 22a has a pair of elongated openings 82a formed therein and said lower part 82 is formed at right angles tosurface 22a and extends toward the adjacent side wall of cabinet 12. A screw 84 passes through each of the openings 82a and the eo aligned elongated opening 44 and adjustably secured therein by any suitable means such as a nut (not shown). Each article guide means preferably includes a vertically disposed portion 86a which is substantially co-planar with the vertically disposed surface portion 22a of member 22 and which extends outwardly of the cabinet 12 through thearticle delivery opening 30a. Vertically disposed portion 86a may be a part of member 86 which is securely mounted to surface portion 22a of member 22 and which preferably has a portion 86b thereof extending at right angles to portion 86a to enable better vertically disposed portion 86a to be maintained in its preferred position. Portion 86b does not obstruct or block any part of the opening 30a and thus does not hinder the passage of an article through opening 30a. It is to be understood that member 22 maybe formed in such a manner that vertically disposedportion 86a is stamped out of a portion of surface, 22b." Vertically disposed portion 86a prevents pilfering of articles from the dispensing device by the insertion of a sharp pointed instrument at the corner of the packaged articlewhile obtaining leverage from such sharp pointed instrument because same enters said flexible covering of said packaged article at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis. of. travel of said package.

1 In FIGURE.6 is shown member 26 which functions as a weight tourge the articles disposed within the dispensing device 10 to move downwardly between the vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means 22 and the article guide recess 24a. Member 26 comprises a generally rectangular shaped plate 88 having an integral tongue 88a .co-planarly formed therewith. Member 90 is securely attached adjacent the end of said top portion 88a and has an off-set portion 98a opposed to the end portion of said tongue 88a. Member 88 also has a pair of channel members 92 and 94 securely mounted to the bottom surface thereof in such a manner as to form a recess 96 therebetween. Channel member 92 has an inturned flange portion 92a which, following the dispensing of the last article contained within the dispensing device 10, serves as a lock or positioning means for the rotatably-mounted member 60 of the article engaging means 18. When movement of the article engaging means 18 is limited due to the positioning of member 60 and inturned flange portion 58a being disposed within the recess 96, the coin-operated means 20 for actuating the article engaging means 18 will not accept a coin and, thus, the article engaging means cannot be actuated. The purpose of surface portion 94a of channel member 94 and offset portion 90a of member 90 is to provide limited surface contact between the means 26 for urging the articles downwardly within the cabinet 12 and the uppermost article disposed therein. Such an arrangement minivmizes or eliminates difficulties heretofore encountered in dispensing the last article as a result of frictional forces existing between the upper surface of the article and the lower surface of means 26. Surface portion 92b of channel member 92 is disposed within the recess 24a for vertical movement therealong. Tongue portion 88a is disposed between the opposed surface portion 22a of members 22 and adapted for vertical movement downwardly therebetween.

Operation of the dispensing device is now described. Loading of the machine is effected by removing portion 32 and either removing means 26 or raising same towards the upper portion of cabinet 12. The distance separating surface portion 22a of members 22 is suitably adjusted by loosening and then tightening screws 84. The distance separating surface portions 22a is made slightly greater than the width of the article to be disposed therein. Where the distance separating surface portions 22a of members 22 is substantially less than the width of recess 24a formed in member 24, member 24 is removed from post 76 and a new member 24 having a recess of appropriate width is mounted thereon. The articles are then loaded into the dispensing device and the means 26 is disposed on top of the stack of articles. The tray 28 is suitably positioned to receive the coins which pass downwardly from the means 20 for actuating the article engaging means 18. Portion 32 is then installed within the cabinet 12 and locked in place.

A coin is inserted within the opening 68b formed within member 68. Member 68 is then urged inwardly into the cabinet 12 until it reaches the end of its travel whereupon hook member 64 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction and engages elongated member 56. Member 68 is then pulled outwardly of the cabinet thereby causing article engaging means 18 to travel downwardly along the inclined support means 16. As the article engaging means 18 moves downwardly along the inclined support means 16, member 58 of the article engaging means 18 engages the adjacent portion of the article exposed within the cabinet 12. The article is then moved downwardly along the inclined support means 16 and exits through the article delivery opening 30a. When member 68 is retracted to its outermost position, i.e., outwardly of the cabinet 12, one end of the article extends a suflicient distance beyond the end of the externally mounted guide means 14 to permit the article to be grasped manually and thence withdrawn completely from the dispensing device 10. It will be noted that upon actuation of the article guide means 18, rotatably-mounted member 60 serves to raise or lift the articles disposed above the article which is being dispensed outwardly through the article delivery opening 20a and thereby decreases the amount of frictional pressure exerted by the articles and means 26 upon said exiting article. However, upon dispensing the last article contained within the cabinet 12, means 26 moves downwardly until the bottom portion of plate 88 rests in abutting contact on the rotatable member 60, said member 60 and member 58 being positioned, at this point, within recess 96. Due to surface portion 92a of channel member 92, article guide means 18 is precluded from movement upwardly along the inclined support means 16. In this position, movement of member 68 inwardly into the cabinet 12 is precluded by elongated member 56 and thus the dispensing device will not accept a coin which may be disposed therein until means 26 is raised a sufficient distance to permit rotatablymounted member 60 to clear the lower edge of flange or surface portion 92a of channel member 92.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention provides a compact article dispensing machine which may be easily, quickly and inexpensively modified to dispense at different times a number of generally flat objects having a different width and thickness from those objects which previously were, or might again, be so dispensed and which is less susceptible to pilferage than comventional dispensing device. It will also be apparent that a dispensing device incorporating the use of a recess disposed intermediate of the article delivery opening and the adjacent edge of an inclined article support means permits the dispensing of articles using a spirally wound wire therein while at the same time maintaining a precise control over the thickness of the opening through which the article must pass on exiting through the machine.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the exact embodiments of the device shown and described, which is merely by way of illustration, as various other forms and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, a single member 22 in combination with one of the walls of the cabinet 12 may be used in lieu of a pair of members 22. Further, a spacer or adapter may be suitably mounted within recess 24a of member 24 to control the width of the recess presented and to accommodate articles of reduced length. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispensing device comprising a cabinet, an inclined support means mounted within said cabinet, an opening formed through one side of said cabinet in juxtaposition with the lower end of said inclined support means, a recessed portion disposed intermediate said opening and said lower end of said inclined support means, an article engaging means mounted for translatory movement along a portion of said support means, means for actuating said article engaging means, a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means, said guide means including a vertically disposed portion extending outwardly through said opening, and a removable, vertically disposed article guide means mounted within said cabinet and having a vertically disposed recess formed therein.

2. A dispensing device comprising a cabinet, an inclined support means mounted within said cabinet and having a recessed portion formed transversely thereof along the lower end of said inclined support means, an opening formed through one side of said cabinet in juxtaposition with said recessed portion of said inclined support means, an article engaging means mounted for translatory movement along a portion of said support means, coin-operated means for actuating said article engaging means, a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means mounted within said cabinet and having a vertically disposed portion extending outwardly through said opening, and a removable, frictionally mounted, vertically disposed article guide means mounted within said cabinet and having a vertically disposed recess formed therein, said frictionally mounted article guide means having a horizontally disposed recessed portion formed along the bottom thereof.

3. A dispensing device comprising a cabinet, an inclined support means mounted within said cabinet, an article delivery opening formed through one side of said cabinet in juxtaposition with the lower portion of said support means, a recessed portion disposed intermediate said opening and said lower end of said inclined support means, a pair of opposed, vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide surface portions mounted within said cabinet above the lower portion of said support means, each of said article guide surface portions having a vertically disposed portion formed coplanarly therewith and extending outwardly through said article delivery opening, an article engaging means mounted for translatory movement along said support means, coinoperated means for actuating said article engaging means, and a removable, frictionally mounted, vertically disposed article guide means extending upwardly from the upper portion of said support means, said frictionally mounted guide means having a vertically disposed, article-guide recess formed therein.

4. A dispensing device comprising a cabinet, an inclined support means mounted within said cabinet, an opening formed through one side of said cabinet in juxtaposition with the lower end of said inclined support means, a recessed portion disposed intermediate said opening and said lower end of said inclined support means, an article engaging means mounted for translatory movement along a portion of said support means, means for actuating said article engaging means, a pair of opposed, vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable article guide means mounted within said cabinet above the lower end of said inclined support means, each of said article guide means including a vertically disposed portion extending outwardly through said opening, and a removable, frictionally mounted, vertically disposed article guide means mounted within said cabinet extending upwardly from the upper end of said inclined support means, said frictionally mounted article guide means having a vertically disposed, article-guide recess formed therein, said frictionally mounted article means cooperating with said support means to form an opening through which a portion of said article engaging means may pass.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 373,355 11/1887 Fowler et al 221274 541,009 6/ 1895 Pollacsek 221273 X 847,863 3/ 1907 Watts 221274 X 1,461,417 7/1923 Giles 22120 X 1,678,650 7/1928 Richardson et al. 22'1232 X 1,705,259 3/1929 Manning 221-274 X 2,119,912 6/1938 Fuselier 221276 X 3,095,115 6/1963 Jensen 221-274 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DISPENSING DEVICE COMPRISING A CABINET, AN INCLINED SUPPORT MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CABINET, AN OPENING FORMED THROUGH ONE SIDE OF SAID CABINET IN JUXTAPOSITION WITH THE LOWER END OF SAID INCLINED SUPPORT MEANS, A RECESSED PORTION DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE SAID OPENING AND SAID LOWER END OF SAID INCLINED SUPPORT MEANS, AN ARTICLE ENGAGING MEANS MOUNTED FOR TRANSLATORY MOVEMENT ALONG A PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS, MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID ARTICLE ENGAGING MEANS, A VERTICALLY DISPOSED, HORIZONTALLY ADJUSTABLE ARTICLE GUIDE MEANS, SAID GUIDE MEANS INCLUDING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THROUGH SAID OPENING, AND A REMOVABLE, VERTICALLY DISPOSED ARTICLE GUIDE MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CABINET AND HAVING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED RECESS FORMED THEREIN. 